Turnout — You have to hand it to Wisconsin's electorate: they are passionate about their politics. When we first polled the Dairy State's voters about Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plummeting approval ratings, many right-leaning types let the blogosphere know how We Ask America's minions …

Rachel Maddow fails the Carney test — Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow attributed statements to Mitt Romney that he did not make. — In a segment pegged, ironically, to White House criticism of the Washington press corps, Maddow attempted to rise to the White House's challenge by calling …

My break with the extreme right — I worked for Reagan and wrote for National Review. But the new hysterical right cares nothing for truth or dignity — Gosh! When did I end up in bed with Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber? Could it be because I did specialize in blowing things …

Half Of Detroit'S Streetlights May Go Out As City Shrinks — Detroit Residents Stay In at Night as Lights Go Out — Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.

First Thoughts: Mr. 48% — Mr. 48%: Obama at or near 48% in all our recent polling... Is that a good thing or bad thing?... The importance of FL, OH, and VA... The importance of cell phones, too... Given the JP Morgan and Facebook news, does any political candidate want to be tied to Wall Street right now? …

Obama Appeared At 1996 Event Hosted By Socialist Group — It's a reminder that the President presented himself as much more progressive during his time in Chicago. In this little-seen advertisement that ran in the Hyde Park Herald in 1996, Obama was listed on a panel sponsored …

FBI: Mayor hacked critical website — A New Jersey mayor and his son were arrested Thursday by the FBI for allegedly hacking into an email account and website tied to a recall effort — and then intimidating those associated with the site. — Felix Roque, 55, the Democratic mayor of West New York …

Alabama Media Group, a new digitally focused company, will launch this fall with expanded online coverage and enhanced three-day-a-week newspapers — A new digitally focused media company — the Alabama Media Group, which will include The Birmingham News, the Press-Register of Mobile …

Marion Barry commits new gaffe while apologizing to Asians — D.C. Council member Marion Barry yesterday stepped up his campaign to mend relations with Asians, apologizing again for disparaging remarks he made about Koreans and Filipinos, and pledging to work to improve ties between them and African Americans.

Senate Dems Betray Lilly — A group of Democratic female senators on Wednesday declared war on the so-called “gender pay gap,” urging their colleagues to pass the aptly named Paycheck Fairness Act when Congress returns from recess next month. However, a substantial gender pay gap exists …

Propaganda firm owner admits attacks on journalists — WASHINGTON - The co-owner of a major Pentagon propaganda contractor publicly admitted Thursday that he was behind a series of websites used to discredit two USA TODAY journalists who had reported on the contractor.

SEC Staff Ends Probe Of Lehman Without Finding Fraud — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigators have concluded their probe of possible financial fraud at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. without recommending enforcement action against the firm or its former executives, according to an excerpt of an internal agency memo.

Real federal deficit dwarfs official tally — The typical American household would have paid nearly all of its income in taxes last year to balance the budget if the government used standard accounting rules to compute the deficit, a USA TODAY analysis finds.

Our Not-So-Friendly Northern Neighbor — WHEN Vladimir V. Putin first came to power in Russia, Quebecers could not help but laugh. Poutine, as he is called in French, is also the name of a Québécois fast-food dish made of French fries, gravy and cheese.

'Those of us who've spent time in the real world ...' — The Obama campaign has tried in a number of ways to define Mitt Romney as a guy who's out of touch with the reality most Americans experience, and at a campaign event in Denver last night the president trotted out this Mitt-just-doesn't-get-it line: